Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Nucks Fan Rebuild & Retool Center - Come For The Banter - Stay For The Disappointment
Anyone who has watched the sorry, sad-sack mess of an alleged hockey team that is the 25-26 Vancouver Canucks knows that defenceman Marcus Pettersson has been a shadow of himself.
What’s gone wrong?
After Pettersson came to the team last year, (someone else can argue whether selling a brand-new first-round pick for the veteran D-man was wise), he looked good. He was good before he got here, he was good afterwards – and the fancy stats prove it.
From 2023-25, Pettersson’s most frequent D-partner was Erik Karlsson in Pittsburgh. That pair logged 1322 minutes of time on ice, with 76 goal scored for the Pens, 64 against for an expected goals average of 54%. Even in 2024-25 season, which was a disaster for the Pens, the two had 464 minutes of ice-time, and were dead even in terms of goals-for and goals-against.
The second most frequent partner last season for Pettersson was the oft-maligned Tyler Myers, with 284 minutes of time on ice. Goals-for/goals-against? Dead even.
In fact, any pairing combination featuring Pettersson for more than 30 minutes last year was either dead-even or positive regardless of jersey worn, on two non-playoff teams. The 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins finished -50 in goals differential, the Canucks -17. Similar stats the year before.
(Incidentally, the worst pairing for Pettersson in Pittsburgh? P.O. Joseph, which again makes me wonder why the Canucks signed the guy.)
This year, Pettersson’s defensive metrics are … not as good.
The Myers-Pettersson pair bleed goals. With that pairing on ice, the goals for are 9 for, 18 against. Pettersson has been partnered with Filip Hronek for 297 minutes so far, with eight for, two against, and the expected goals for is just a twitch in favour of Vancouver.
So…. uh… what changed between this year and last? Pettersson looks lost.
Pop a painkiller and flip to 2:20 of the highlights/lowlights of the Islanders/Canucks game Monday, Jan. 19. Petterson is out of position. Grossly so. This is a rookie mistake, and it suggests one of two things: lack of confidence in the other four Canucks on the ice or something else.
This isn't a function of a poor centre situation. The Canucks centre depth was horrible after Pettersson came here (Remember, your top two centres for a while were Puius Suter and Teddy Bleuger), and Marcus Pettersson did just fine.
The other variable that changed comes behind the bench. When Adam Foote was in Kelowna, the team was a dead-last in goals scored and were a defensive mess. Last year, one of the focus points of Rick Tocchet was to eliminate the cross-grain passing, in part to eliminate the post-to-post movement of goaltenders. And interestingly the fancy stats suggest the Flyers are playing better defensive hockey this year than last. All year, Vancouver's defenders have looked lost on the ice.
That system - remember that word, it used to mean something - isn't there this year. Pettersson is being victimized on a lot of the cross-ice passing, in part because the system designed to prevent it went with to Philadelphia.
So don’t blame Pettersson. Blame Foote. And the management team that hired him.
Nobody said tanking was easy, and while the benefits are obvious, maybe these guys could throw us a bone? We're used to the losses, but this is getting ridiculous.
Vancouver Canucks (16-26-5) vs. Edmonton Oilers (23-17-8)
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet, CBC, City
Radio: Sportsnet 650
There was a point in this season where you could go "Well, at least the Canucks are decent enough on the road, right?" So what do you do when that's no longer a thing?
That road trip couldn't have gone any worse for the Canucks, honestly. Losing every single game, along with another handful of players has sealed their fate, and the rest of the season will just be them riding it out, playing the kids and hopefully, having it all pay off with a top three draft pick come June.
And while that sounds simple, it's really not. There's a lot that needs to be done, selling off of assets, and making sure which ones to keep to build a new core around. And the hardest part? They need to sell the team to new owners. It's not going to be quick. It's going to be painful. But it's the only way out of this godforsaken mess.
And now, with the potential to set a new low with the most consecutive losses, and the penalty kill operating at a 50% clip during that road trip, they return home to face the league's best power play in the Edmonton Oilers. I am already feeling uneasy at just how bad they're going to look tonight.
35 games to go, and most of them are at home. For some teams, that would be reassuring. For the worst team on home ice in the NHL? Not so much. And it's a rough schedule, too. 8 straight at home, a game every second night. No chance to practice in between, really. No extended periods to let nagging injuries heal. This is a nightmare scenario.
LINEUPS
Via that nhl dot com place, this is what will likely shake down tonight:
Oilers projected lineup
Vasily Podkolzin -- Connor McDavid -- Zach Hyman
Trent Frederic -- Ryan Nugent-Hopkins -- Kasperi Kapanen
Isaac Howard -- Jack Roslovic -- Matthew Savoie
Andrew Mangiapane -- Curtis Lazar -- Mattias Janmark
Mattias Ekholm -- Evan Bouchard
Darnell Nurse -- Ty Emberson
Jake Walman -- Spencer Stastney
Tristan Jarry
Calvin Pickard
Scratched: Leon Draisaitl, Alec Regula, Connor Ingram
Injured: Adam Henrique (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Liam Ohgren -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Jake DeBrusk -- David Kampf -- Evander Kane
Drew O’Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Conor Garland
Arshdeep Bains -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson
Marcus Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium -- Tyler Myers
Tom Willander -- Victor Mancini
Nikita Tolopilo
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: P.O Joseph, Nils Hoglander
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Kiefer Sherwood (undisclosed), Marco Rossi (lower body), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
Lots going on here, so let's start with the big news. No Leon Draisaitl, as he's returned to Germany to deal with a sick family member. Unfortunate for him and the Oilers, but potentially a ray of light for the Canucks if they hope to not hit double digits on this losing skid. It's Nikita Tolopilo in goal tonight, as Kevin Lankinen is ill, so much so they had a third goaltender at the morning skate, but he will dress tonight, apparently. Chytil and Blueger are almost ready to return, likely Monday against the Islanders, but not tonight.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Just playing this track from SEPULTURA's classic 'Chaos A.D.' album, for no particular reason.
Enjoy the game, folks. Fuck Fascism! Go Canucks Go!
The 2025-06 Vancouver Canucks are so bad, they may finish dead-last in the league and set another dubious record in the process: worst home-ice record since the expansion era (1967-68.)
Going into today's game against the Edmonton Oilers (which to be honest, has all the makings of pushing the current losing streak to 10), Vancouver had a record of 4-12-3, or a staggeringly gawdawful winning percentage of 0.134.
Comparing the disasters of the last 58 years is a bit problematic. There were three shortened seasons – one to strike, two to that little bug that happened in 2020. One year, the regular season was 84 games, and some seasons featured 80. Relax. Some crusty retired journalists can actually math, and the following chronicle of winning percentage is all pro-rated nicely to an 82-game season so we can all get right to the trauma with a handy-dandy worst-ten table.
|
Year |
Team |
Record |
Points |
Percentage |
|
25-26 |
Vancouver |
4-12-3 |
11 |
0.134 |
|
83-84 |
Pittsburgh |
7-9-4 |
18 |
0.225 |
|
74-75 |
Washington |
7-28-5 |
19 |
0.238 |
|
93-94 |
Ottawa |
8-30-4 |
20 |
0.238 |
|
89-90 |
Quebec |
8-22-6 |
20 |
0.238 |
|
75-76 |
Washington |
6-26-8 |
21 |
0.250 |
|
95-96 |
Ottawa |
8-28-5 |
21 |
0.256 |
|
92-93 |
Ottawa |
9-29-4 |
21 |
0.256 |
|
94-95 |
Ottawa |
5-16-3 |
22 |
0.271 |
|
84-85 |
Toronto |
10-28-2 |
23 |
0.275 |
Yep. You read that right: the current Vancouver Canucks are on track to under-perform a woeful Pittsburgh team who had one player with a positive plus-minus (excepting some shmucks who were traded to Pittsburgh mid-season, or lucky ones traded elsewhere mid-season.) But that Pens team at least had a player who could put the puck in the net: Mike Bullard, potted 92 points that season. By comparison, the Canucks leading scorer is (checks notes) some guy named Elias Petterson, who is on track to score 57.
What do the Vancouver Canucks have to do to avoid being the team with the worst home-ice record in the expansion era?
Collect eight points in the next 20 home games. A mere four wins. Or three wins and two loser points. Or two wins and …
You guys can do the math.
Eight points. That shouldn’t be too hard, right?
Right?
The 1983-84 Pens dressed 44 skaters and four netminders through the season. The 2024-25 Canucks have dressed 33 skaters and four netminders so far.
In 1983-84, the league minimum salary in 1983 was $25,000. Elias Petterson (the forward) earns $25,000 every 10:52 of game time.
The terrible home stand is interrupted with a dismal road trip down the I-5 to play another team above the Canucks in the division, conference, league standings.
CANUCKS (15-19-3) at KRAKEN (16-14-6)
Climate Emergency Arena, Seattle, WA
10 p.m. ET; KHN/Prime, KONG, SNP
Radio: Sportsnet 650
The most recent ROG game on Saturday confirmed our expectations. Canucks are not a good home team. Although they are good to their visitors, so there's that.
So much Nucks drama and disappointment this season, we barely have had time to mention hockey.
That's probably for the best. Other than the new kids bump on the road, the Canucks haven't been too fun to watch. Although it does bring back those 2017 nostalgic feelings. Or nausea.
Anyhow now featuring a JR/PA hybrid-rebuild for the worst team in the league, the only direction is up... or sideways. Since Huggie is gone, media rumour mill has been quick to fill the vast rumour void with refreshed/re-tooled EP40 trade click-bait. Either going to Carolina in the morning or the Habs in the afternoon.
Back to the on-ice hockey part. Tonight's game features a changeup in goal. Lanky is in and Demmers is getting a rest. As is DeBrusk. Healthy scratch move from Footsey. Something he'd never do to equally ineffective Kane.
The Nucks are facing possible future rival and almost as bad team, the still newbie franchise scrambling below the playoff bar in the expansion team doldrums. We know what that's like.
LINEUPS
Canucks projected lineup
Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Brock Boeser
Liam Ohgren -- Marco Rossi -- Conor Garland
Drew O'Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Kiefer Sherwood
Nils Hoglander -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson
Marcus Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium -- Tyler Myers
Elias Nils Pettersson -- Tom Willander
Kevin Lankinen
Thatcher Demko
Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Jake DeBrusk, David Kampf
Injured: Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
Kraken projected lineup
Kaapo Kakko -- Matty Beniers -- Jordan Eberle
Eeli Tolvanen -- Chandler Stephenson -- Frederick Gaudreau
Berkly Catton -- Shane Wright -- Jared McCann
Ryan Winterton -- Ben Meyers -- Jacob Melanson
Vince Dunn -- Adam Larsson
Ryan Lindgren -- Cale Fleury
Ryker Evans -- Jamie Oleksiak
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
Scratched: Josh Mahura, Jani Nyman
Injured: Matt Murray (lower body), Jaden Schwartz (lower body), Brandon Montour (upper body)
Status report
DeBrusk, a forward, will be a healthy scratch for the first time since signing a seven-year, $38.5 million contract with the Canucks on July 1, 2024. … The Kraken held an optional morning skate after a 4-1 win against the Philadelphia Flyers on Sunday.
GAME DAY CHATTER
32 Thoughts (Dec 29): On Jake DeBrusk getting benched tonight, Elliotte says people may think this is trade related with Vancouver wanting to move players but it’s way too early to go there. “I don’t know if you’re jumping to that conclusion yet”. #Canucks #NHL
— NHL Trade Alert (@nhltradealert.bsky.social) December 29, 2025 at 7:47 AM
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🆚 Tune in tonight when the Seattle Kraken take on the Vancouver Canucks at Climate Pledge Arena. Matchup Notes 👇 Season Series (last season): 1-2-1 Last 5 VAN: 3-2-0 Last 5 SEA: 4-1-0 🕖 07:00 PM 📺 SNP • KHN/Prime • KONG #️⃣ #Canucks | #VANvsSEA
— Vancouver Canucks Game Bot (@van.hockeygamebot.com) December 29, 2025 at 5:59 AM
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GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
As Kent is having his usual Monday battling a bomb cyclone, we must make musical choices looking for the 1st overall of the summer.
Fuck fascists! Fuck Trump! Go Canucks Go!
The Holiday break is over, and the Canucks are back at home after a surprising Eastern road swing. Are they really turning the corner after dealing away the franchise's best player, or was that just a dead cat bounce, and the tank will rumble forth?
Vancouver Canucks (15-18-3) vs. San Jose Sharks (17-17-3)
Rogers Arena, Vancouver, BC
7:00 pm PST; 10:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific, Sportsnet One, City TV
Radio: Sportsnet 650
The post Quinn Hughes era is weird, man. I don't think there's a soul alive that saw the Canucks rattling off four straight wins coming off that trade, especially not as convincingly as they did. But was that real, or just a little hiccup before the ship continues to sink to the bottom of the ocean?
One thing's for sure: Unlike other new additions this season, the players acquired in the deal for Hughes have made an immediate impact. Zeev Buium is not Quinn Hughes, but he is definitely going to be a 1st pairing defenceman on this club for a long time, and the fact that he's where he's at at the age of 20 is a really good thing. Liam Ohgren and Marco Rossi are showing signs of developing chemistry and fitting into the new systems, and have both contributed offensively for the Canucks since their arrival. Sure, the trade is gonna take a long time to get over, but the way the players that came back have been able to fit seamlessly into the lineup upon arrival takes some of that sting out.
And let's face it, if there was one thing that was going to help soothe the disappointment the fan base felt at having to see the best defenceman this club's ever had get traded away, winning four in a row for the first time this season definitely did the trick. Monday night saw them come back down to earth though, losing 5-2 to Rick Tocchet's Flyers in Philadelphia. They're back for three games in four nights as they host the Sharks tonight, head to Seattle for a Monday night tilt against the Kraken, then back home for a rematch against the Flyers.
So now the question remains? What's better: Pushing hard to catch up to a Wild Card slot that is still very much in their grasp, or for the losses to mount, with the possibility of a potential game changer available with one of the top three picks this summer in what should prove to be one of the deepest drafts in years? I still believe that getting fooled by a dead cat bounce and not continuing to focus on the future is the worst possible thing for the Canucks, they'd simply be replicating the mistakes of the Benning Era, tripping over the same damn rock. Do the hard work to make this team a contender. Trade the guys with value now and load up on picks, make this into something that's going to a legit threat in a few years time. You owe us that much.
The Canucks dropped a 3-2 decision to the Sharks in their last meeting, a game that saw the Canucks outshoot the Sharks, but get let down by poor penalty killing and an inability to capitalize on seven power plays during the game. It looks like the Canucks will have Elias Pettersson back in the lineup after missing eight games with an undisclosed injury. EP40's return will definitely give the power play a little more punch.
LINEUPS
From that nhl dot com thingy, this is what we should expect tonight:
Sharks projected lineup
William Eklund -- Macklin Celebrini -- Igor Chernyshov
Collin Graf -- Alexander Wennberg -- Tyler Toffoli
Jeff Skinner -- Ty Dellandrea -- Adam Gaudette
Barclay Goodrow -- Zack Ostapchuk -- Ryan Reaves
Dmitry Orlov -- John Klingberg
Mario Ferraro -- Shakir Mukhamadullin
Sam Dickinson -- Vincent Iorio
Yaroslav Askarov
Alex Nedeljkovic
Scratched: Nick Leddy
Injured: Vincent Desharnais (upper body), Philipp Kurashev (upper body), Will Smith (upper body), Timothy Liljegren (upper body)
Canucks projected lineup
Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood
Jake DeBrusk -- Marco Rossi -- Brock Boeser
Drew O'Connor -- David Kampf -- Conor Garland
Liam Ohgren -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson
Marcus Pettersson -- Filip Hronek
Zeev Buium -- Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson -- Tom Willander
Thatcher Demko
Kevin Lankinen
Scratched: P.O Joseph, Aatu Raty, Nils Hoglander
Injured: Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
With EP40 making his return, that sees Hoglander in the press box, though the pressure will be on the guys in the bottom six to keep performing lest they be the next ones up.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Wednesday was a special day, as we celebrate the birth of our lord and saviour: Lemmy from Motorhead. And to pay tribute, here's UK thrashers DEVASTATOR with a ripping cover of 'Iron Fist' to honour the much missed mofo from Motorhead. I hope you all had a good holiday, and I wanna say thanks to my fellow NM dudes for covering things while a bout of COVID knocked me on my ass for a few weeks.
Enjoy the game, everyone. Fuck fascists! Fuck Trump! Go Canucks Go!
Okay, not really. But it is very funny to read president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford say he doesn't care what people call this next step of, well, this isn't a plan, surely.
“Use whatever word people like, whether it’s somewhat of a rebuild, not a full blown rebuild, but a rebuild-retool, whatever. It’s the position we’ve been in since the J.T. Miller trade.”
In the same discussion, he makes clear that he wants to make Vancouver a younger team. Trading veterans and bringing back younger NHL players, draft picks, and prospects is the goal. So, you know, a rebuild. At least partially.
This is, by any reasonable accounting, a lousy time to try rebuilding your team. We're a quarter way through the season; almost every team can be described as "in the middle somewhere"; and serious injuries leaves an incomplete picture of what the team is.
But boy, fans are angry. Famously, post-Calgary Flames match, one caller was in tears when he described the shared fandom between him and his father. To him, the constant mediocrity has become a betrayal, and he talked about walking away from the team for his mental health.
Speaking personally, I have advised at least one other person in a fan forum to do the same, and for the same reason. Yes, it's "just a game" but ignoring who buys the tickets, who fuels the market, and who cheers in seats, in pubs, and at home is willful blindness.
There are plenty of fans like him making their voices heard, but the raw emotion he showed may have been enough to go viral. That might finally have gotten through the management chain to ownership. There's no evidence anything else has, after all.
I spend most of my time here thinking about what management is thinking. Not just deals they make (or don't) but why they make those deals (or don't). Whether I agree with them is irrelevant. I want to try understanding them.
This ownership group - now essentially just Francisco Aquilini - has been so blindly terrified of missing the playoffs in any year that they've ended up with a team that usually misses the playoffs every year. Plans seem half-hearted, lightly considered, and rapidly abandoned. Watching that happen repeatedly over the past decade while hearing how important it is that the team "stick to our blueprint" is both bewildering and depressing.
Willard: They told me that you had gone totally insane, and that your methods were unsound.
Kurtz: Are my methods unsound?
Willard: I don't see any method at all, sir.
This is a city populated with two million general managers, all convinced they could be in the NHL. Think they haven't seen what doesn't work?
We talked about the amazing sports weekend that was just dished up for Vancouverites, and why that impacts the Canucks. Not only are fans angry and frustrated enough to walk away, they have places to walk to. Fandom can move. Maybe, just maybe, that can frighten Aquilini enough to begin the actual rebuild. Or maybe not.
Rutherford just mentioned his veteran unrestricted free agents being up for sale. He mentioned not wanting to ship everyone out, and that "some veterans are playing very well". Bad news, Jim: that's who you'll get the best return for. Again, these aren't players who are loafing about out there, but there is no point in pretending this iteration of the team isn't outmatched.
Still, let's take him at his word for now. While his plans may need evolving, I do think he's been honest with the media in what they are. The Canucks have five players entering UFA status: Teddy Blueger, Evander Kane, David Kämpf, Kiefer Sherwood, and Derek Forbort.
Of those five, one is playing far beyond expectations, one somewhat below them, two have been injured the entire season, and one just arrived from the AHL. Both Kane and Blueger have some trade protection, but that still leaves half the league available as partners.
Sherwood might get a late first or mid second round pick from a team that thinks they can reach the playoffs. The others are the kind of player teams look for at the deadline when they are sure they're in.
I don't know what could come back in these deals that would do anything approaching help for this season. Or, frankly, much in the future. Vancouver has plenty of mid-level prospects who could help the bottom six or bottom pair in the near future. They don't really need more there.
In many cases, salary has to come back in a deal. So fine, maybe a younger guy returns, but where would they fit? Abbotsford needs help, sure, but only because Vancouver has needed so much more.
There are other options. They do get trickier, but players with no-move clauses have been moved before. All that needs is their agreement to go, and you might be surprised how many players hear "we don't want you" and decide to leave. We'll talk about them in another article, because this one is plenty long already.
No one in the bottom six has any trade protection except for Drew O'Connor. He's doing just fine, and is probably a keeper for Vancouver anyway. We like him, but he's not a hard player to find, so isn't moving the needle for another team.
Linus Karlsson and Max Sasson will be group six free agents, so easy to re-sign if the team wants. They're playing fine, but are fourth-line players in their mid-20s. Arshdeep Bains and Mackenzie MacEachern are heading back to the AHL for the season unless needed. The relatively young Lukas Reichel is a bust at centre, and might get waived to the AHL as well.
Aatu Räty is coming along nicely, and the team probably doesn't want to move him for a paltry return. And they wouldn't get much more than that because Räty is still just a bottom-six forward.
There aren't a whole lot of players left, here. There are three forwards who can draw more attention, though likely only one that can bring some sort of return.
Filip Chytil is a delight to watch on the ice, but I do hope he just retires. I don't want to hold my breath every time he's on the ice. Tucker Poolman and Micheal Ferland are recent Vancouver Canucks who tried to push themselves through concussions, and I don't want to see that repeated.
Nils Höglander has plenty to like in his game. He's a fireplug on skates, loves the boards, and has some finishing skill. He's a bit reckless out there, but if you need a player to play the hound on the forecheck, he's up for it. The down side is that he has yet to play this season because of - guess what - injury.
Then there's Conor Garland. If the Canucks move the newly-signed Garland before his no-move clause kicks in, I will be truly impressed. Shipping out one of the few play drivers the team has would show a commitment to a rebuild that I just don't expect from them. If they want to win this year, moving Garland would be a terrible mistake. But if they are looking to the future, here's a guy who can get a good return.
Sigh. Yes, all right, Quinn Hughes would be the pinnacle of bold moves from this management group. Every team should want him, few can afford him - including the New Jersey Devils. I simply cannot picture the Canucks trading Hughes at this point. There is too much to consider in a Quinn Hughes deal that it really needs its own post, so I'm bailing here. We'll talk about it again in three months.
The bad news is Quinn Hughes scored. The boxcar stats from Sunday's game against the Flames are bad enough, but the instant you look at the scoresheet, you know. Hughes rushing in to score late in a 5-1 game isn't a good sign. That he does it end-to-end with an assist from Kevin Lankinen is as bad as it gets.
I've mentioned before that one of the worst signs for the Canucks is when Hughes tries to do it all himself. He doesn't do that accidentally; he does it because he doesn't think he has a choice. And since we're talking about one of the highest hockey-IQ players in the league, that's worth paying attention to.
Beautiful goal. Terrible indicator.
Back when we did a preview of the season, we noted that the other teams in the division had shored themselves up. Vancouver's margins to succeed were smaller than ever, but certainly not impossible. The biggest danger was the thinness of talent at the top.
Vancouver has more top-end talent than enough of these teams to make the playoffs. But the game requires more than talent. The Canucks can have one or two things go wrong and still make it, so long as those things going wrong aren't one of three players. So we're ending up with Schrödinger's Playoffs, either making it or not, and we won't know which until we look.
So how did that go?
Okay, that wasn't exactly a difficult prediction. And even as easy as it was, I still got some of it wrong. The three players were, of course, Thatcher Demko, Quinn Hughes, and Elias Pettersson the Forward(tm). There have been mixed results, but that hasn't been where the most damage has been done.
Demko's injury is what it is, and no point going over that again. Hughes has missed substantial time - five complete games, parts of others - but that hasn't stopped him from leading the team in scoring again. Pettersson took a bit to get going, but he's been fine, even after being told he not only has to be a superstar scorer but also the only checking centre the Canucks have.
That third one's the indicator. Filip Chytil doesn't want to retire, but good grief, he should. We know you get paid a LOT, but there's a life after hockey, Filip. Another shock was Teddy Blueger playing in just two games, never to be seen again. The same can be said of Derek Forbort, but at least we only expected 60-ish games from him. But his absence is felt on the league's worst penalty kill.
One thing we aren't going to do is blame Pius Suter for getting paid. His two-year, $4.125 million per is an awful lot for a 40-point, middle-six centre. But boy, wouldn't that have been a better use of the money than signing winger Evander Kane?
Instead, what we get is the Jim Benning Era packed into two months, with increased desperation leading to increasingly desperate moves. Giving a younger player a shot is the kind of thing a team on the way up does, not one trying to stay afloat. Bringing in a guy who was cut from the frikkin' Maple Leafs to play as the second-line centre is pure desperation.
The pressure of keeping the best player in Vancouver Canucks history happy doesn't help, of course. But they haven't performed well under that pressure, either. Hack-comic-talking-about-airline-food levels of flopsweat, here.
Winning teams take risks, sure. But those risks are closer to betting on red at the roulette table, not praying #35 will somehow come through for you.
There was a risk in promoting Adam Foote to head coach. I think he'll be fine, but this is a team with so little margin for error that everything they did was a risk. The other option was Manny Malhotra, who is also untested at the NHL level, so it's not like they were playing it safe either way. I also don't think the fault lies with Foote, and really hope the team doesn't make him the fall guy.
This is about team construction. That goes right to Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin, with plenty of blame left over for team owner Francesco Aquilini.
Personally, I hate how this management team seems to negotiate. Obviously, I'm not in the room, and I haven't talked to either players or staff. My judgment is entirely based on what we all can see in public, and to me, that doesn't look good.
Right from the treatment of Bruce Boudreau to taking their players for granted, there has been an arrogance and recklessness at the top. I don't blame J.T. Miller for not getting along with Pettersson - nor do I blame Pettersson - but choosing him and completely ignoring Bo Horvat was alarming. Publicly insulting Brock Boeser after his 40-goal season, then leaving him to hang in negotiations, was bizarre.
When they kept Kevin Lankinen waiting, and waiting, and waiting, before finally signing him in late September to his first deal with the Canucks is typical of how they work, apparently. If you want to play in Vancouver, hey, great! We'll get back to you on that! We're going to play the field a little more before we get married, okay, sweetie?
The end result has been a team that feels like it's been forced on management instead of built by them. Rutherford seems frustrated that he can't simply offer to bury a player in the AHL if they don't sign. He and Allvin were surprised that the rising cap let teams keep their players, but forgot they could do that, too.
It was quite the weekend for Vancouver sports. The Goldeneyes kicked off their existence with an overtime win against their expansion rivals on Friday. The Whitecaps played one of the greatest games in Vancouver sports history, with an absolute rollercoaster of a game to stay alive in the MLS playoffs on Saturday.
The Canucks played a solid game against a good Dallas Stars squad, even though they lost. Then got stomped by one of the worst teams in the league, who had played in another city the night before. It, uh, it was a comedown.
The Canucks players have put in a lot of hard work. They really have. But on Sunday, they were outworked by what is now a higher-skilled team. Lankinen had an off night, and that wasn't nearly enough to cover for the mistakes made in front of him.
The return dates for Vancouver's missing players have been pushed back, with Nils Höglander looking like he'll be on the outside edge of ten weeks, Forbort being a complete mystery, and Blueger and Demko both strangely being here-then-gone. Chytil, of course, is anyone's guess, given how concussions play out.
So what's left for Vancouver? Will there be an effort to salvage the season, which in this case means asking some players to please waive their no-move clauses? Will there be a change in management or coaching? Will Aquilini - the owner who has openly defied every opportunity to rebuild - finally talk about rebuilding? At this point, who frikkin' knows?
Looking forward to the next Goldeneyes game, though. And can't wait for the MLS Conference Final!
If you turned that game off after the first period, you might be surprised by that final score. But for all the bounces the Canucks got in this game, they definitely earned them, battling back from two goals down thanks to a final 30 minutes where they went toe to toe with a good Tampa squad.
Vancouver Canucks (9-9-2) vs. Florida Panthers (9-8-1)
Amerant Bank Arena, Sunrise, FL
4:00 pm PST; 7:00 pm EST
TV: Sportsnet Pacific
Radio: Sportsnet 650
If you were watching yesterday's game, I wouldn't blame you if you flipped over to watch the Grey Cup after seeing that first period. Apart from the initial rush of seeing Conor Garland take down Darren Raddysh in this season's most unexpected fight, there wasn't anything to feel good about, apart from Kevin Lankinen holding the fort. The Lightning threw everything they had at the Canucks in the first, and damn near came away empty handed if not for the Nikita Kucherov goal with less than a minute to go in the frame. The Canucks looked outmatched, and it felt like we were in for a long afternoon.
But from the second period on, the Canucks were as good, if not better than the Bolts, and after going down 2-0, started the comeback halfway through the second, with Jake DrBrusk hammering home an Elias Pettersson rebound, and it felt like, if they could just get one more, they might have a shot.
Cue the craziest third period of the season.
The Canucks exploded for five goals after mustering just seven shots through the first forty minutes. With Tampa's backup in net, that old proverb of "just get some pucks on him" turned out to be the way to go, as deflections and bounces led to three goals in 1:40 to give the Canucks a 4-2 lead. It looked like the Lightning had made it 4-3, but a crafty Canucks challenge on the play, alleging that the puck had been played with a high stick and should have been blown down, overturned the goal. It was the first time they'd used the new rule this season, and it probably killed any hope of a Tampa comeback. After Mackenzie MacEachern got his first as a Canuck to make it 5-2, the fans started heading for the exits.
What an absolute monster game from Quinn Hughes. After missing the Carolina game, that gave Hughes 7 assists in his last two games. Kevin Lankinen was outstanding, shutting the door after the second goal and giving them the chance to pull off the comeback. And another strong performance from Elias Pettersson, continuing his strong two way play along with a two assist night.
Naturally, there was a downside, and that was Conor Garland not returning to the game after his tilt with Raddysh, yet another challenge for the Canucks as they prepare to take on the Florida Panthers tonight. Fortunately, they at least have a body to put in the lineup as David Kampf, signed by the Canucks last week.
Kampf is a center, and while he's not the center they need, he's gonna do a couple things that are going to help. First, he can take defensive zone draws and take some of the pressure off EP40 to take all of the draws.
Second, he's going to make the utterly embarrassing penalty kill better (though credit where credit is due, the PK came up big yesterday, especially in the second).
As far as the Panthers, they have, like the Canucks and Lightning, been struggling with injuries to key players this season, and so far aren't looking quite like the two time defending champs they are. That's not any reason at all to take them lightly, though, and this is still gonna be a hell of a tough night for the Canucks in the back end of a back to back. That being said, the Canucks have performed well in back to backs so far this season, and with the confidence boost of two strong games on this road trip so far, maybe they actually can return to Vancouver with five of a possible six points?
LINEUPS
From the nhl dot com thingy...
Canucks projected lineup
Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Kiefer Sherwood
Brock Boeser -- Max Sasson -- Jake DeBrusk
Drew O'Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Arshdeep Bains
Mackenzie MacEachern -- David Kampf -- Lukas Reichel
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Elias Nils Pettersson -- Tom Willander
Kevin Lankinen
Jiri Patera
Scratched: P.O Joseph, Linus Karlsson
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Conor Garland (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
Panthers projected lineup
Mackie Samoskevich -- Anton Lundell -- Brad Marchand
Carter Verhaeghe -- Evan Rodrigues -- Sam Reinhart
A.J. Greer -- Sam Bennett -- Jesper Boqvist
Noah Gregor -- Cole Schwindt -- Luke Kunin
Gustav Forsling -- Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola -- Seth Jones
Uvis Balinskis -- Jeff Petry
Sergei Bobrovsky
Daniil Tarasov
Scratched: Donovan Sebrango
Injured: Eetu Luostarinen (lower body), Matthew Tkachuk (lower body), Tomas Nosek (knee), Jonah Gadjovich (upper body), Dmitry Kulikov (shoulder)
So it's Kampf with MacEachern and Reichel, and Arshdeep Bains will be with O'Connor and Raty. Karlsson will sit tonight, and Max Sasson continues to get rewarded for his efforts seeing second line duties between DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. It looks like Lankinen might go in goal tonight, and Florida, after seeing Tampa's backup get lit up last night, isn't taking any chances, as they'll start Sergei Bobrovsky. And as expected, the Canucks sent Victor Mancini down to Abbotsford, which I am sure the AHL Canucks will gladly welcome him back.
GAME DAY CHATTER
GAME DAY BATTLE HYMN
Released on this day in 1986, 'Darkness Descends' was the album that put Dark Angel up with many of the upper echelon thrash contenders. Just an absolute beast of a record, with relentless riffing and drumming from the legendary Gene Hoglan make this one a must listen. Here's the title track for ya!
Enjoy the game, folks. Fuck fascism! Go Canucks Go!
The Vancouver Canucks and David Kämpf agreed to terms on a one-year, $1.1 million deal. Is he worth it?
There was plenty of talk before the 2025-26 season started about finding centres for the team. With Pius Suter pricing himself out of the market (despite Jim Rutherford's retroactive claims) and the VERY questionable health of Filip Chytil, more was needed. It wasn't a secret. Heck, one of the more famous quotes being replayed now is from Rutherford himself:
“It'll be expensive, but it'll also be very expensive not to get one. We're going to be open to do whatever it takes.”
Nothing like being your own self-fulfilling prophet.
Two names that came up in the idle speculation were Lukas Reichel and David Kämpf. Both were rejected for various reasons, but mostly because they weren't top-six centres. Vancouver wasn't great lower in the lineup, but the addition really needed to be at the top. They weren't going to move the needle if Chytil got injured.
Life moves fast on ya some days.
Lukas Reichel hasn't worked out, unfortunately, but was an experiment worth trying. A young guy who played some centre, even if he was used more on the wing. Even without the points yet, he does bring plenty of speed that much of the team doesn't have. In less desperate times, his lack of scoring wouldn't carry as much weight.
So in comes the next "other option" from Summer: David Kämpf. He hasn't played an NHL game this season, and only four in the AHL with a single assist to show for it. He's probably the team's *deep breath* second-line centre whenever he gets into the lineup. He was suspended on November 2nd for not reporting to the Marlies, so he may need to get up to speed before joining the club. I'll be a bit surprised if he gets ice time in Florida.
Okay. I tend towards a much more optimistic view of the Canucks than many in this market because I find pessimism boring. I freely admit there have been days this season where that has been more difficult than others. But today isn't one of those days. Here's why.
Kämpf has spent a lot of time there, both in Chicago and Toronto. He is a faceoff guy and a defensive specialist, which is very welcome on the team with the worst PK in the league. There are some small differences in coaching styles around the league, but penalty kills are pretty much about what you give up. It won't take him long to pick up the subtleties.
Seriously, anything has to be better than the results they're getting now. Are there EBUG penalty killers?
Kämpf is, fortunately, closer to Aatu Räty's size than Lukas Reichel's. He stands 6'2" and plays at around 195 pounds - it's always a grain of salt with NHL measurements, but that beats Reichel by 25 pounds. If the new guy is going to go up against the opponent's best, he's going to have a lot to stand up to. This really highlights the other side of bringing Kämpf in now: helping Elias Pettersson the Forward(tm).
Many fans have been critical of Pettersson the Forward's results so far this season, and fair enough. While he has five points in his past four games, his point totals really need to hit point-per-game levels for him to earn his team-leading contract. I've written before about what I think he will be, and I stand by it. But he needs help out there right now, and I think Kämpf can provide it.
Pettersson the Forward(tm) is taking the vast majority of Vancouver's faceoffs right now. Nearly half of those are in the defensive end of the ice. According to Hockey Reference, he's at his worst Corsi of his career - and it's still 51.8%. As sweet as his short-handed goal was against Carolina, I'd rather he play fewer minutes a man down. Let Kämpf take some of the hards off his plate.
Some of this is going to be self-interest, obviously. But plenty of other teams were interested in Kämpf's services after Toronto cut him. Not enough to lose assets for him at $2.4 million, but at less than half that, and for free? That's a sweet deal!
Why he chose Vancouver, we'll never really know. But there are a few safe guesses.
First, he can resurrect his career. Kämpf hit a low point last season, scoring just five times with 13 points in 59 games. Even a defensive specialist needs to contribute a bit more to the bottom line than that. Getting sent to the AHL when he still had two years on his contract was a wake-up call, and he didn't much like hearing it. So why is Vancouver the right choice?
The Canucks are desperately short-staffed at centre, right now and in overall depth. Players will be coming back at some point, but even when they do, Kämpf has a good chance of keeping his spot. Kudos to the work Max Sasson has put in, but both he and Reichel are more likely wingers in the NHL. That's not a bad thing at all, but if Teddy Blueger and (deo volente) Filip Chytil return, Kämpf will have spent weeks making his case.
Like so many desperate moves, this one doesn't really raise the ceiling for the team. But right now, that's okay. What we're looking at right now is probably the team's floor, and he does raise that.
While one or two players still don't seem to have gotten the memo *cough*Evander Kane*cough* the Canucks are working their asses off out there. The effort isn't missing, but the talent is. That's just what happens when the top guys on a thin team are out of the lineup. If this is a low as it gets, that's not a bad base to launch from when the talent gets back.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki will play 35 minutes a night* in Abbotsford for a few games before returning to Vancouver. Nils Höglander is out of his walking boot. Blueger is skating, though with a non-contact jersey at the last practice before this roadie. Derek Forbort, speaking of the penalty kill, is scheduled to be back in another two weeks, but "undisclosed" injuries are always a mystery.
Right now, the high-concern injuries are to Quinn Hughes and Thatcher Demko, but there isn't much Kämpf can do there. We'll see how Jiří Patera does, but even he is taking the place of the injured Nikita Tolopilo.
Can David Kämpf help keep the Canucks afloat until reinforcements arrive? In three words:
He can't hurt.
*Perhaps a slight exaggeration, but we'll see. They're missing a lot of players right now, too.
The bickering, finger-pointing, internet yelling has hit Defcon 2 as the Canucks another stretch of time without their #1 goalie, Thatcher Demko. The meele increased once President Jimmy Rathernot said that a rebuild was out of the question for this team. The inferences that grew from his comments we like watching a chain reaction.
(This is not a chain reaction....but it serves a purpose!)
Besides the possibility of stupid money being thrown at him by Vancouver, I'm not sure why Quinn would stay in this boxed wildfire?
"But...but.....this team, when healthy....on paper....or video game console, can be a playoff team!!"
Unfortunately, the games that count are not played on either.
This team has no point per game players.....this team is dead last on the penalty kill....the powerplay is in the bottom half of the league. This is why the team will only be a .500 club. Injuries to the starting lineup are not easy to replace on this team. For all the talk of a Calder Cup win, there is a huge difference for an AHL player to score in that league versus an AHL player to score in the NHL.
This little 3 game road trip might just create that separation in the standings that the idea of the playoffs might be a fleeting thought before American Thanksgiving. I am already kind of viewing this year to be like the last year of Willie D. No expectations of success, but fear of a future without Quinn in it.
Of course, if they find a way to sneak a couple wins out, I might have to change my tune. But the Eeyore in me is just waiting for the next visit of the injury fairies
LINEUPS
Canucks projected lineup
Evander Kane -- Elias Pettersson -- Conor Garland
Brock Boeser -- Lukas Reichel -- Kiefer Sherwood
Drew O'Connor -- Aatu Raty -- Jake DeBrusk
Arshdeep Bains -- Max Sasson -- Linus Karlsson
Quinn Hughes -- Filip Hronek
Marcus Pettersson -- Tyler Myers
Elias Pettersson -- Tom Willander
Kevin Lankinen
Jiri Patera
Scratched: P.O. Joseph, Mackenzie MacEachern
Injured: Thatcher Demko (lower body), Victor Mancini (undisclosed), Filip Chytil (concussion protocol), Teddy Blueger (lower body), Nils Hoglander (lower body), Derek Forbort (undisclosed)
Hurricanes projected lineup
Andrei Svechnikov -- Sebastian Aho -- Seth Jarvis
Nikolaj Ehlers -- Logan Stankoven -- Jackson Blake
William Carrier -- Jordan Staal -- Jordan Martinook
Taylor Hall -- Jesperi Kotkaniemi -- Eric Robinson
Shayne Gostisbehere -- Sean Walker
K’Andre Miller -- Joel Nystrom
Alexander Nikishin -- Mike Reilly
Pyotr Kochetkov
Brandon Bussi
Scratched: Frederik Andersen, Mark Jankowski, Gavin Bayreuther
Injured: Jalen Chatfield (upper body), Jaccob Slavin (lower body), Charles-Alexis Legault (hand)
Status report
Hughes participated in the Canucks' optional morning skate Friday after not practicing Thursday and will be a game-time decision; he briefly left in the second period of a 5-3 loss to the Winnipeg Jets on Tuesday favoring his left arm; he returned four minutes later and remained in the game. ... Demko will not dress; the goalie left following the first period Tuesday. ... O'Connor took part in the skate and is expected to play after missing practice Thursday with an illness.
GAMEDAY CHATTER
PEP TALK:
JR says it's not his fault that they couldn't manage the JT/EP40 situation. It wasn't management arrogance that kept them from bringing Suter back - just miscommunication. So... no worries... Nucks management geniuses are on track to keeping the Nucks mediocre without the tedium of a full rebuild. McKenna who?
Since the Nucks are fading away into league irrelevance thanks to the great work of the Faeries and Nucks management brilliance - JB's legacy is longer than hoped - here's to an irrelevant tune from a weird psy-genre with a simple message to Nucks fans: Run Away. From paying Franny - it's the only way to fix this team.
Fuck Fascism, Enshitification of sports streaming and enjoy the game!
